A common challenge for protecting water quality has been identifying quantitative relationships between the stressors, nitrogen and phosphorus, and associated responses in biological communities. This session brings together academic, government, and private sector scientists whose research findings can be used to develop tools for water quality managers. It also draws on the experience of scientists and managers involved in areas where eutrophication-related management tools, including criteria, have already been established and will examine how these experiences compare to, or may inform, the broader national effort.

SCI-007: Eutrophication and Aquaculture.

Coastal eutrophication is a problem of global significance and the ecological consequences (e.g., loss of sea grasses, fish-kills, HABs) are well established. Recent studies highlight the potential impact of shellfish on eutrophication particularly as global demand for seafood increases and aquaculture activities expand to meet this demand, while capture fisheries decline. It has long been known that filter-feeders exert top-down control on the food web, and may significantly reduce eutrophication symptoms. The aim of this session is to bring together the most recent information on aquaculture impacts on eutrophication with special emphasis on the potential use of aquaculture as a tool for integrated coastal zone management (ICZM).

SCI-044: Exploring Impacts of Hypoxia on Coastal Ecosystems.

This session will explore recent research on the impacts of hypoxia on coastal and estuarine ecosystems, with an emphasis on how this research translates into coastal and fisheries management decisions. We are interested in both naturally occurring and anthropogenically driven hypoxia as well as the interaction of hypoxia with other coastal stressors including climate change, eutrophication, coastal development and overfishing.

There are now many coastal and estuarine systems with long-term (i.e., >20 year) records of water quality and biological parameters. In this session, we are interested in reports of those time series where major perturbators have resulted in large changes in nutrient cycling rates or rates of biological productivity. Such perturbations may include, but are not limited to, alterations to sewage treatment from primary to secondary treatment, diversion of water flow due to dam construction or removal, hurricanes, rapid invasion of a non-native species, or rapid changes in land use. The goal is to gain insight into the impacts of anthropogenic forces on nutrient cycling and ecosystem structure using systems where causal relationships may be more easily recognized from time series data before and after the perturbation.

SCI-045: Macroalgae: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

This session focuses on all aspects of estuarine and coastal macroalgal research, including, but not limited to, the role of foundation species, phase shifts and alternative stable states, invasions, bloom dynamics, nutrient uptake, growth and physiology, distribution and abundance patterns, herbivory, and ecosystem effects (e.g., hypoxia, community structure, trophic dynamics). The goal is to convene the international macroalgal community into one session to promote the generation of new ideas and collaborations. We seek contributions from researchers working in diverse coastal communities, including estuaries, lagoons, rocky shores and coral reefs.

SCI-093: Nutrient Budgets and Nutrient Accounting for Coastal Waters.

Coastal nutrient budgets, such as those developed in the LOICZ project (http://nest.su.se/mnode), have been useful in assessing the relationships between nutrient fluxes and the ecosystem metabolism of coastal waters worldwide, and are proving to be helpful in assessing the impacts of coastal activities on water quality. On the terrestrial side, simple accounting methodologies are proving useful in assessing the relationships between human activities in watersheds and nutrient loads to coastal waters. This session presents ongoing work, including new methodologies, and applications of these approaches to the science and management of fisheries, hypoxia and trophic status of coastal waters.